India, China growing below trend, says OECD

Economic activity in the US is rising, while in the euro zone it is steadying. In Japan and Brazil signs were emerging ‘of growth picking up’. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

Updated: Tue, Feb 12 2013. 12 16 AM IST

Paris: Economic activity in the US is rising, in the euro zone it is steadying, but in China and India the growth trend is slowing, leading indicators from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed on Monday.

OECD said that its index of leading indicators suggested that economic growth in the US was “firming”.

Activity in Britain was also firming but at a slower pace than seemed to be the case a month ago, OECD said in its monthly report on composite leading indicators that are considered a reliable pointer to activity in six months’ time.

In Japan and Brazil, signs were emerging “of growth picking up”.

For the 17 members of the euro zone, and notably in Germany and Italy, the leading indicators “point to a stabilization in growth prospects”, but in France “growth is expected to remain weak”.

OECD, which is a policy forum for 34 advanced economies but also monitors some other important economies, said China and India appeared to be on a growth path, but “below trend compared with more positive signals in last month’s assessment”.

The indicators for Canada and Russia continued to signal growth that was below trend, OECD said.